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Secretbingers
Even as they describe themselves as dead or Damned, the Kindred cling to life—they steal it every night from their victims, until the blood thickens, or the mind weakens, or accident, violence or deliberate effort conspires to send them into torpor, to rise and repeat the cycle until Final Death. covenants exist that answer “why?” or to distract from the process, but most Kindred never understand “how?” The Harbingers are a small covenant that announces itself as being dedicated to the understanding of the Kindred “life-cycle,” comprised mostly of elders who have experienced torpor and found their existing covenants lacking for an explanation of it. The group offers a rationale for the changes a vampire undergoes later in “life” that satisfies enough prospective members, and the tiny covenant grows. The Kindred tell one another that they are dead, but not gone. The Embrace freezes a vampire after the point of death, forced to steal life as Vitae for the power to continue existing. The Harbingers disagree on one fundamental point. The Kindred aren’t dead, the covenant tells new members, but dying—very slowly dying. The clock marches on at a pace described in decades and centuries as the amount of necrosis slowly builds up in the vampire’s soul, what should take an instant slowed to a trickle by the Curse and expressed as symptoms such as the thickening of the blood, the urge to enter torpor and the deadening of emotion. When torpor finally does come the Kindred is so far dead that they can no longer animate their body and slip into the underworld. The clock can, however be rewound. The Harbingers have mastered the Discipline to alter the “amount of death energy” (or “Necrosis”) within their souls. But through some quirk of the World of Darkness Necrosis cannot be decreased or increased by any Discipline known to the covenant, only moved from place to place. The Harbingers will never have to go into torpor again but that Necrosis has to go into a suitable vessel. Oh, by the way—the very best vessels are other vampires. Overview The Harbingers are a morbid covenant, though one enthusiastic about recruiting. Members see it as their mission to convert ancillae and elders to the teachings of the covenant, rejecting the philosophies of the mainstream covenants which, to a Harbinger, sound comforting but don’t help when one is facing torpor and the crushing weight of centuries of damnation on the soul. The covenant relies on the personal power of members who often at the height of their Requiems when the covenant recruits them to protect them against any other covenants angered at the Harbingers stealing their members. The stealing of other vampires is sometimes literal. The covenant has a habit of removing the bodies of torpid vampires from whatever resting place they are found in and moving them to secret locations— other covenants assume that this is a misguided recruitment tactic at first, until the Harbingers have been present for some time and the kidnapped vampires fail to reemerge; in fact, they are used as vessels by the Harbingers, the elders of the covenant using their powers over death to cause the torpor victims to “age” rather than themselves. Those powers are rooted in the covenant’s beliefs about the nature of the Curse, and their belief that the minds of torpid vampires drift into the Underworld to suffer the nightmare-dreams that accompany the condition. The Harbingers preach that the trauma associated with torpor, the fog of eternity and the tendency of Kindred to madness are all caused by ineffectually struggling against the process of slowly dying, which they call “Rigor.” They point to the fact that once in torpor, as the Man no longer struggles against his fate and gradually dissolves into the Underworld, the blood of a vampire thins again until they eventually wake. It is not the Fog of Eternity that interests them—that, to the Harbingers, is clearly the result of damage sustained in the Underworld—but the thinning, which the original Harbingers realized must be the result of the Underworld acting upon the Curse. Somehow, being in torpor means that the accumulated Necrosis of a vampire is released. By achieving the stillness of torpor even while active, the blood can be thinned without the sleep of ages. By understanding how the energies of death build up in the vampire’s soul, they can be manipulated, drawn in or bled off, allowing the careful elder to choose how quickly she dies. Achieving the stillness of torpor involves reproducing, in part, the conditions of the Underworld on Earth. Harbingers surround themselves with the images and symbols of death, seeking out sites known to be haunted or that are looked upon as morbid for their havens. The covenant looks on members of rival covenants as being castiel montenegro (order #2514569) 99.38.225.125 Harbingers 99 obsessed with pretending to be alive, or trying in vain to change the nature of the Curse while the Harbingers see themselves as manipulating the way it already works. Elders of the Harbingers do not spend their days in mortal accommodation—leaving the penthouses and mansions to the Invictus, they build their havens in tombs and crypts. The covenant point to what scraps of evidence exist about early vampires—especially the Necropolis-dwelling Camarilla and the ancient Egyptian Kindred—as proving that their ways are more valid than dwelling among the living. Despite the covenant’s morbidity, it is acceptable and even encouraged for one of the rare neonate members of the covenant to be preoccupied with mortal concerns for as long as they take to be resolved. The neonates are not long Embraced, after all, and they have only just started to die, with several decades to go before Rigor reaches the point of having to be managed. The covenant actively supports such fledglings in resolving any “mortal” issues they might have, gaining any necessary revenge and fulfilling any fantasies the neonate still clings to from living days. Once the mortal family has been out-lived, however, members of the covenant are expected to put the mortal world behind them and withdraw from contact with the living. Members The Harbingers have a skewed membership tending towards high potency of blood and age. Elders have the perspective they need, having long since dealt with any remains of their mortal lives and begun to feel torpor dragging at the corners of their minds. The typical recruit is approaching her second bout of torpor; having experienced the fear and uncertainty of the long sleep for a first time, she is in no mood to do so again and despairs that any existing covenant teachings fail to offer comfort. As respected elders, the Harbingers can make the approach as concerned peers. Younger members make up the distinct minority, but are looked upon as the future leadership of the covenant thanks to their head start in learning the techniques for trading in Necrosis. The covenant cannot recruit neonates by using the fear of torpor—they’re too young and in most cases haven’t realized that even immortality as a vampire is limited—so concentrates on those that require assistance with moving beyond their mortal lives. Harbingers will murder, protect, guide and manipulate mortal friends, enemies and relatives of newly Embraced Kindred, helping the new vampire to get past the first few years of Rigor until they’re willing to reject living ways. Ancillae Harbingers are the success stories; having learned the covenant’s magic much earlier in their Requiem, they display the properly morbid attitude to existence and, when they are powerful enough to survive the Predator’s Taint without embarrassment, are sent to new cities in a conscious effort to seed the covenant in new domains. Lastly, the Harbingers are often keen necromancers, and cultivate members of appropriate bloodlines such as the Burakumin, or those with a talent for producing the necessary conditions in the world, such as the Morbus. Philosophy The Harbingers are the result of the Antiquarian movement in the 19th century, which was mirrored in the Danse Macabre by a rise in interest among the Kindred in seeking their roots. The relatively new studies of Egyptology and other revelations about the ancient world led many Kindred to look for traces of their own kind in the past. One common factor rang out through the Fog of Ages: Kindred of the past had a tendency to dwell in the houses of the dead. The combination of these beliefs with Acolyte teachings about Kindred being part of the life cycle of the world and Dragon investigations into the nature of the Curse produced the Harbingers. Rigor A vampire is different to other walking dead—she is not a zombie, not a ghost, not a Sin-Eater. She steals life from others and resists change, her body undoing alterations unless they are fixed by effort of will. Over time, she becomes more deathlike until torpor sets in, the taste for blood growing more rarified with age. The Harbingers call the aging process of the Kindred “Rigor” by way of comparison with the changes a mortal body undergoes after death. Through the Curse, the split-second advance of death is turned into the process of centuries. Hollow Mekhet and the post-mortem Embrace So, if a vampire is actually trapped within the split-second of being both alive and dead as the Harbingers say, what about the rare cases of Embrace after death, explored in Mekhet: Shadows in the Dark? It’s up to the Storyteller. The Harbingers could be mistaken. Alternatively, Hollow Mekhet and other post-mortem Embraces might be immune to (and unable to learn) the Thanatology Discipline. Their unusual Embrace puts them apart from other vampires, a curiosity for Harbingers to study. castiel montenegro (order #2514569) 99.38.225.125 100 The Bonds Of Covenant Necrosis Necrosis is the covenant’s term for the “death energy” that builds up in a vampire and which causes the advancement of Rigor. It cannot be sensed directly, only by symptom—a “touch of the grave,” the presence of a ghost or the psychic stain of a graveyard. It is a truism among the Harbingers that death calls to death. Ghosts frequent areas high in Necrosis because they are attracted to it somehow. Necrosis is especially attracted to the Curse of the Kindred; the vampiric soul is protected from Necrosis to a great extent by the Curse, but that protection is not total and cuts both ways, preventing Necrosis that builds up within a vampire from easily being released. The Underworld Within the Underworld, though, Necrosis is everywhere. That strange realm, known to the philosophers of the Kindred as the place in which torpor dreams originate and to their Necromancers as the abode of Ghosts, is so flooded with Necrosis that a curious effect takes hold on a vampire’s soul—the Necrosis within, the Harbingers say, is pulled without by the sheer amount of it present in the Underworld. The pull of the land of the dead is greater than the pull of the Curse, and so torpor lowers the amount of Necrosis within a vampire. Transference The Curse can be manipulated by great effort, and the Harbingers point out that most Kindred do it without thinking about it—the same effort that, when exerted, allows a vampire to appear in a reflection or fix physical changes to their waking state. Most profound is the act of the Embrace itself, forcing the Curse into another being. Through will, the Curse can be forced to ease its grip over the Kindred for an instant, allowing Necrosis to move in or out of the soul and the clock of Rigor to be wound in the direction of the Harbinger’s choosing. Miscalculation can be deadly for the Harbinger as that same force is the one keeping an elder’s body from crumbling to dust, but with care the Blood can be thinned or thickened, given a suitable donor or receiver for the Necrosis. castiel montenegro (order #2514569) 99.38.225.125 Harbingers 101 Rituals and Observances Gravetending The primary observance of the Harbingers is the creation of the appropriate conditions for their rituals; in order to bleed off Necrosis and free themselves from the specter of torpor, the covenant need access to an environment saturated in free Necrosis that can serve to attract or be attracted by that within themselves. Because of this, Harbingers spend much of their time cultivating areas that are filled with the symbolism of death, haunted by ghosts or otherwise regarded as “morbid.” This process of cultivation is known as “Gravetending,” and is the great occupation of much of the covenant. The site of an atrocity is a popular choice, and one can always be arranged if there are no suitably ghoulish stories in the city’s past. However, for reasons still debated by the covenant’s theoreticians, death energies cannot simply be bled off into the landscape and require a new home similar to the one they are being evicted from; a ghoul made by the Harbinger using the power will do in a pinch, but the best transfers are made between two vampires. The Harbingers are understandably wary of the risks involved in lowering their own Blood Potency by increasing that of another active vampire, so the covenant collects Kindred that have fallen to torpor, hides them in as secure a location as can be found and uses them as Necrosis batteries—with a coterie of Harbingers all transfusing excess Necrosis into them, the unfortunate victims don’t reduce Blood Potency with time spent in torpor and remain trapped unless rescued. Interference The covenant is by no means the only group to actively go out seeking areas that have been touched by death—the sites they pick may turn out to be Wyrm’s Nests, Stygian Demesnes, Verges to morbid areas of the Shadow, Wounds or other “interesting” sites, many of which are guarded by supernatural beings that have their own ideas about vampires moving into the neighborhood. No Survivors The ritual of No Survivors is a solemn affair that marks the graduation of one of the Harbinger’s rare younger members from neonate to ancillae, named for its only condition; the Kindred must have resolved all ties to mortals in a permanent fashion. Some neonates kill those linked to them, while others are content to simply gather their strength, learn their moves in the Danse Macabre and wait for everyone they knew to die of old age. In either case, No Survivors resembles a wake for the Kindred crossed with the reverent destruction of any keepsakes and mementos from living days. After the ritual, the ancillae is expected to participate fully in Gravetending and abandon any further non-feeding contact with the living. The Crossing When a Harbinger falls to torpor despite her best efforts, the covenant gathers in a ceremony to mark her crossing into the Underworld. Unlike the vampires gathered for Gravetending, members of the covenant are not used as receptacles for Necrosis for fear that such behavior would be returned in kind should the perpetrators ever fall to bad luck. Instead, the fallen Harbinger is carefully shepherded through torpor as best as their colleagues can. Titles and Duties The Harbingers are still a small covenant, and only have a few official titles within their membership. Pilgrim A Harbinger who joined the covenant unusually early in her Requiem, a Pilgrim is a recent elder who combines the age, experience and Potency of an elder still decades from torpor with the full command of Thanatology of one many years her senior. Pilgrims are those Harbingers tasked with spreading the covenant to new cities, making the arduous journey to a new domain in order to find new converts. Watcher of the Graves Publicly, the title of Watcher of the Graves refers to the Harbinger with the greatest skill at Gravetending or the one on whose territory the covenant focus their efforts at encouraging a morbid atmosphere. In fact, the title refers to the member charged with identifying, acquiring and keeping safe the torpor victims that make the practice of Thanatology more convenient for the Harbingers. Legacy The Harbingers have refined their study of Necrosis, Rigor and the Curse into the Discipline of Thanatology. Using this Discipline, the covenant is able to transfer Necrosis between vessels to achieve startling effects. Thanatology Thanatology is affected by external factors, being best practiced in areas the Harbingers have been Gravetending, and carries a risk to the vampire using it. Failure to manage the careful balance of forces within the user’s soul can lead to the mystical properties of the Curse that keep castiel montenegro (order #2514569) 99.38.225.125 102 The Bonds Of Covenant a vampire’s body intact and unchanging being disrupted; a mistake using Thanatology can lead to excruciating pain as body parts rot or crumble to dust. The following modifiers based on location affect all uses of Thanatology. Location Modifier Supernatural place of death (gateway to the Underworld) + 4 Resting place of corpses (Graveyard, Cemetery or Mass Grave) +3 Site of multiple unexpected deaths or place corpses are routinely handled (Scene of a car crash, Funeral Parlor, Morgue) +2 Site of regular expected deaths (Hospital ER) +1 Site of a single death (Murder scene) +1 Haunted + 1 In addition, the transfer of Necrosis is most effective when used on other Kindred, but can be attempted against other supernatural beings. Apply the following modifiers. Target Modifier Kindred with Blood Sympathy to user + 1 Other Kindred 0 Ghoul created by user 0 Other Ghoul -1 Non-“Kindred” vampire -1 Ghost -2 Other Death-Aspected Being (Promethean, Sin-Eater, Moros mage, zombie, Risen) -3 Any other being, supernatural or mundane -4 Note also that most Thanatology powers have a cost in Willpower, representing the effort of manipulating the Curse. As with Theban Sorcery, the limitation on spending Willpower in a scene still applies to the Discipline so the roll to activate those powers cannot be improved by spending Willpower. • Taking the Measure A Harbinger first learns to sense the tug of death on the Necrosis within his own soul, feeling how it is drawn to other centers of death. This sense reveals the relative strength of other vampires, the presence of Ghouls, ghosts and any powers calling upon the forces of death. Cost: - Dice Pool: Composure + Investigation + Thanatology Action: Instant. The roll may be contested by Obfuscate or other concealment powers as with Auspex (Vampire: The Requiem, pg. 119) Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The character loses grip on her own Curse, and suffers one aggravated wound. Failure: The attempt fails. Success: The character senses the presence of death in her immediate vicinity (Blood Potency in yards). Kindred are recognizable as such, and she knows whether they have a higher or lower Blood Potency than herself. Ghouls, non-Kindred vampires and other beings or objects that contain Vitae are recognized as being vampiric but not Kindred. Ghosts can be sensed even if not materialized. Other supernatural creatures linked to death are discerned as being present, but the power gives no understanding of their nature or capabilities. Exceptional Success: As per success, but the character knows the exact Blood Potency of Kindred within reach of her senses. Any ghostly anchors within the area are highlighted as such. At Storyteller’s discretion, a separate Composure + Occult roll may be used to discern further details about supernatural beings highlighted by the use of this power. •• Necrophage The Harbinger takes hold of the Curse and, by an act of will, forces it open. He lacks the ability to purge his existing Necrosis, however, and the death within attracts more which at this level of understanding settles into the part of himself the vampire has the most experience moving his Vitae. By the use of this power, the vampire can feed without feeding, leeching power from those around him and using it to recharge Vitae that has been spent. The power is best used on other vampires or ghouls who have Vitae of their own the Necrosis can be drawn from—but more esoteric sources can be used in a pinch. Those without suitable reserves of Necrosis—supernaturals not castiel montenegro (order #2514569) 99.38.225.125 Harbingers 103 linked to death and normal living beings—cannot be targeted by this power. The target must first be touched or grappled. Ghosts must be materialized for the character to be able to use this power on them. Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Strength + Occult + Thanatology versus Stamina + Blood Potency Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The character suffers two points of aggravated damage and may not attempt to use Thanatology powers other than Taking the Measure against the target for 24 hours. Failure: The attempt fails. Success: If a vampire or ghoul, the target loses Vitae equal to successes. Other supernatural beings lose equivalent traits, such as Essence for ghosts. The character then gains Vitae equal to successes, halved (round up) if the trait absorbed is not Vitae. The Vitae gained cannot cause the character to exceed his maximum Vitae pool. Exceptional Success: The character gains Vitae equal to successes, regardless of the Trait absorbed. Because this Discipline transfers the power seated within the blood, but not the blood itself, use of it does not count as drinking from a source for purposes of blood addiction or the feeding restrictions experienced by characters with high Blood Potency. The user does not risk the Vinculum, and the power cannot be used to commit diablerie. The sudden loss of Vitae can send targets into hunger frenzy or in extreme cases torpor. ••• Purge The core of the Harbinger’s Necrosis—that underpinning her Blood Potency—is still beyond her reach, but she has refined her ability to control that contained within her Vitae to expel as well as absorb it. With this power, the Harbinger can burn Vitae and push the Necrosis released out into a target that must be touched or Grappled if unwilling. The power is an obvious display, the now-inert blood seeping from the Harbinger’s pores as the transfer takes place. Cost: 1 Willpower plus any Vitae lost to the transfer Dice Pool: Stamina + Empathy + Thanatology (versus Stamina + Blood Potency for unwilling targets) Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The character is wracked with pain, and suffers three points of aggravated damage. She may not attempt to use Thanatology powers other than Taking the Measure against the target for 24 hours. Failure: The attempt fails. Success: The player chooses an amount of Vitae up to the successes rolled and his character character loses that much Vitae. If the target is a vampire, she gains Vitae equal to that lost by the Harbinger. Supernatural beings able to process the energies of death gain points in their appropriate power Trait, such as Essence for Ghosts. Beings unable to generate their own power Trait (such as Ghouls), supernaturals not linked to death (such as non-Moros mages) and normal living beings cannot process the energies of death pouring into them. They instead suffer lethal damage equal to the Vitae lost by the character. The sudden drop in Vitae within the character can cause hunger frenzy if it takes her below the “hungry” level as defined in Vampire: The Requiem Exceptional Success: As per success, but the character only loses half (round up) the Vitae transferred. The character does not risk hunger frenzy from the use of the power. If this power is somehow successfully used against an invalid target (such as against an illusion or a spirit), the character loses the Vitae but the Necrosis is dissipated. It can be sensed as a taint on the surroundings by users of Taking the Measure, Auspex powers or other psychic powers for up to the character’s Blood Potency in nights. As with Necrophage, this ability transfers the power contained within Vitae and not Vitae itself—it does not cause the Vinculum or Blood Addiction and it cannot be used to create or feed a Ghoul (indeed, as they are unable to process the Necrosis usefully, attempting to do so will seriously injure the Ghoul). A vampire may gain Vitae from the power regardless of feeding restrictions that may apply. •••• Shifting the Scales The Harbinger has now achieved the fine control needed to manipulate the potency of her blood. Unlike lesser uses of Thanatology, this can only be used with another Kindred as the target—the Curse calls to the Curse. The Harbinger must touch her target, which involves a Grapple if the target is unwilling, and then attempts to open both their souls, allowing the Necrosis to flow from one to the other. She may attempt to raise her Blood Potency at the other vampire’s expense, or cast off the unwanted thickness of blood onto the other. Cost: 1 Willpower plus dots in Blood Potency temporarily lost in the transfer. Dice Pool: Stamina + Empathy + Thanatology versus Stamina + Blood Potency castiel montenegro (order #2514569) 99.38.225.125 104 The Bonds Of Covenant Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The character suffers four points of aggravated damage. Failure: The attempt fails. Success: The player chooses whether the character loses or gain a dot of Blood Potency, while the target gains or loses a dot in reverse. This transference lasts for the character’s new Blood Potency in nights, after which the traits return to their normal ratings. No character may be reduced to Blood Potency 0 or be pushed above Blood Potency 10. Exceptional Success: As per success, but the character may choose to transfer up to successes in Blood Potency rather than a single dot. The affect lasts for the character’s original Blood Potency in nights. ••••• Blight A Mistress of Thanatology can purge the Necrosis within her Blood Potency without the need for another vampire to act as a participant, holding herself still or regressing along the progress of Rigor. The highly potent Necrosis manifests as a wasting blight on the vicinity, or a devastating attack on a target that then suffers the accumulated and long-deferred death of the Harbinger. Cost: 1 Willpower and 1 Blood Potency. Dice Pool: Stamina + Occult + Thanatology, resisted separately by beings in the area of affect with Stamina + Blood Potency Action: Instant. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The user suffers five points of aggravated damage as the Curse cracks bones and flesh and incurs spiritual damage. Failure: The attempt fails. Success: The character permanently loses a dot of Blood Potency, which can only be restored through time or experience. The accumulated Necrosis washes over the immediate area (new Blood Potency in yards)—any beings present that are able to process Necrosis as defined for Purge gain the character’s new Blood Potency in the appropriate power trait up to their normal maximums. All other beings suffer the character’s old Blood Potency rating as points of lethal damage. If the character wishes, she can instead focus the Blight onto a single target within the area. That target suffers the character’s old Blood Potency as aggravated damage. Exceptional Success: The Blight both strikes the immediate area and focuses on a particular target. The target nominated only takes the aggravated damage, not the lethal damage inflicted on everything else nearby.